Security boots man who tried paying $231 in taxes with coins

A Boulder man was removed from a courthouse after attempting to pay his property taxes with coins. (Creatas/ThinkStock)

BOULDER, Colo. — A Boulder County Courthouse security officer escorted Fairview Estates homeowner Todd Hunter out of the county treasurer's office Monday afternoon after Hunter tried to pay his $8,190 subdivision paving district assessment with a $7,958.58 check and $231.42 in assorted coins.

On Tuesday, Hunter said he had deliberately decided to pay part of the total charge with “a random selection of coins” to protest the assessment Boulder County imposed on his property, located in a subdivision of single-family homes, and the lien the county had attached to that property until the assessment was paid in full.

Hunter said he didn't want to make a scene when he showed up at the treasurer's office, “but I wanted to make a statement,” about Boulder County's new local paving district.

County Treasurer Bob Hullinghorst, didn't agree however, said Tuesday that Hunter “was obviously trying to make a disturbance in our office” by showing up with “a large number of coins that were unsorted, in various denominations,” which the treasurer said he and his staff didn't have time to count themselves Monday in order to verify that they totaled $231.42.

“I didn't want to create a huge burden for the people who work there,” Hunter said.

Hunter said he had called ahead of his visit and was told by a member of Hullinghorst's staff that the office would accept a cash payment. He said his bank had counted and sealed the $231.42 in coins in the bag.

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